Local package archive
In order to create a local package archive which is compatible with APT and the dselect system, Packages needs to be created and package files need to be populated in a particular directory tree.
A local deb repository similar to an official Debian archive can be made in this way:
# apt-get install dpkg-dev # cd /usr/local
# install -d pool # physical packages are located here # install -d dists/unstable/main/binary-i386
# ls -1 pool | sed 's/_.*$/ priority section/' | uniq > override
# editor override # adjust priority and section
# dpkg-scanpackages pool override /usr/local/ \ > dists/unstable/main/binary-i386/Packages # cat > dists/unstable/main/Release << EOF Archive: unstable
Version: 3.0
Component: main
Origin: Local
Label: Local
Architecture: i386
EOF # echo "deb file:/usr/local unstable main" \ >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Alternatively, a quick-and-dirty local deb repository can be made:
# apt-get install dpkg-dev # mkdir /usr/local/debian
# mv /some/where/package.deb /usr/local/debian
# dpkg-scanpackages /usr/local/debian /dev/null | \ gzip - > /usr/local/debian/Packages.gz # echo "deb file:/usr/local/debian ./" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
These archives can be remotely accessed by providing access to these directories through either HTTP or FTP methods and changing entries in /etc/apt/sources.list accordingly.
